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Boy Blinded In Fifth-grade Receives $500,000 Settlement

November 10, 2005

After a boy was blinded during class, the Kent School District has now chosen to fulfill $275,000 of a $500,000 settlement for the student. The elementary school boy was blinded in his left eye after an exercise device snapped and hit him directly in the eye.

It was September of 1999 when Dustin Drake, now a 16-year-old junior at Kentlake High School, went to class for the third day of fifth-grade. He was attending Cedar Valley Elementary School in Covington when the accident happened.

Doctors attempted three different types of surgeries but they were unable to restore his vision completely. His family filed a lawsuit in order to reclaim part of the medical expenses and pay for other damages.

A judge awarded the family a settlement of $500,000, of which the school district will pay $275,000. Three other defendants are being ordered to pay $75,000 each.

According to a spokesman for the school district, use of the exercised device involved in the accident has been discontinued in the schools.

The settlement will cover attorney fees and related expenses that insurance will not cover. There will also be $300,000 deposited in a special trust fund for Dustin.

According to the family, the money will be used to cover the medical bills that are ongoing, due to Dustin being autistic. He is required to see a doctor twice a year for the rest of his life to make sure his right eye stays in good condition.

He will also have to wear glasses for the rest of his life with the prescription only in his right eye.

The family was more than happy about the settlement especially because it relieved the stress of having to go to trial.

The exercise machine that blinded Dustin was a Spri Muscle Toner, which is made of the same material as a slingshot. The device is about a foot and a half long and has handles on each end for people to stretch and exercise with it.

The lawsuit filed also named Spri Products of Illinois, Prime Line Industries of Ohio, and Gopher Sports of Minnesota. They were the companies that manufactured the product, designed it, and marketed it to the school district and many others around the country.

The Spri Muscle Toner was used in physical education class at Cedar Valley Elementary school to teach children about healthy exercise habits. The teachers gave only a few minutes of instruction on how to use the device.

One method of exercise using the device was performed by stepping on one end and pulling up on the tube. It was this exercise that went wrong and ended up blinding Dustin Drake.

The charges that were being brought forward in the lawsuit were that the device was defective; that there was not adequate instruction regarding the use; and that the teacher was not monitoring the children properly while they were using it. The lawsuit also stated that elementary school children might be too young to use the device.